General Election 2019: Full schedule with phases, dates and State-wise list of seats

Elections to Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha, and the bypolls to 21 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu will follow the Lok Sabha election schedule in their respective States.

The 17th Lok Sabha elections will be held inseven phases beginning April 11 and the votes will be counted on May 23, the Election Commission announced on March 10. Elections to Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha, and the bypolls to 18 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu will follow the Lok Sabha election schedule in their respective States. Bypolls to three Assembly seats won't be held due to pending election petitions, Tamil Nadu CEO Satyabrata Sahoo has announced.

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3.

The much awaited 2019 Lok Sabha election schedule is being announced by the Election Commission at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora is reading out the dates of the national elections and also the assembly elections in four states, bringing the Model Code of Conduct into force.

The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3. As soon as the elections are announced, the model code of conduct will come into force.

The required electronic voting machines and paper trail machines are in place to be deployed in nearly 10 lakh poling stations across 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Here are the LIVE Updates on Lok Sabha Elections dates announcement:

Mar 10, 2019

17:03 (IST)

Chief Election Commissoner Sunil Arora is addressing the media at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.

Mar 10, 2019

16:59 (IST)

In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, the BJP, became the first party in three decades to win a majority on its own; the BJP scooped 282 of the 543 seats in Lok Sabha, where the majority mark is 272. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 336 seats.

Mar 10, 2019

16:57 (IST)

Elections for the 543 Lok Sabha seats have to be held by May. The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3.

Mar 10, 2019

16:36 (IST)

AAP launches mega campaign in Delhi

Ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the dates for which will be announced by the Election Commission shortly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched its mega campaign with the demand for full statehood at the centre. The party staged a protest near BJP headquarters in Delhi today. Tomorrow, the party will protest outside Congress headquarters on Akbar Road.

Veteran leader Sharad Pawar, who said he has quit electoral politics, will be up for election in the coming Lok Sabha polls, due by May. The 78-year-old will contest from Madha, the constituency he won in 2009.

Mr Pawar - the chief of Nationalist Congress Party -- had announced his retirement from electoral politics in 2012.

Mar 10, 2019

15:44 (IST)

First parliamentary election for Andhra Pradesh

The state has 25 parliament and 175 assembly seats

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is making a bid for a second term in power, is also a key interlocutor of the opposition and has been trying to forge a united front against the BJP for months

As the Election Commission today made it official that the dates for the national election would be announced at 5 pm, concerns were expressed by a few politicians - but entirely of the astrological kind.

Assembly elections in four states - Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha - are expected to be held along with the Lok Sabha polls this time. The term of the government sin all four states are set to end by April-May.

Mar 10, 2019

12:41 (IST)

Following was the seat sharing for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections:

Party Seats wonSeats contested

Bharatiya Janata Party 282 428

Indian National Congress 44 464

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 37 40

All India Trinamool Congress 34 131

Biju Janta Dal 20 21

Shiv Sena 18 58

Telugu Desam 16 30

Telangana Rashtra Samithi 11 17

Communist Party Of India ( Marxist) 9 93

Yuvajana Shramik Rythu Congress Party 9 38

Mar 10, 2019

12:39 (IST)

In 2014, PM Narendra Modi's BJP bagged majority on its own by winning 282 of the 543 seats in Lok Sabha.

A week after two of its MLAs left the party and joined the ruling TRS, Congress in Telangana was dealt a further blow when its legislator from Nakrekal, Chirumarthi Lingaiah on Saturday announced that he would join the Telangana Rashtra Samiti.

The notice was issued after billboards featuring BJP leaders such as Narendra Modi and Amit Shah along with Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman came up in certain parts of the national capital.

Mar 10, 2019

09:26 (IST)

The Election Commission on Saturday asked political parties across the country to not use photographs of defence personnel on hoardings or posters in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

Model Code of Conduct comes into effect; candidates with criminal antecedents need to announce their status thrice before poll date.

The notification for the first phase Lok Sabha poll, which is likely to be spread over seven to eight phases in April-May, could be issued by the end of March for voting some time in early April, sources suggested.

As soon as the elections, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his bid to return to power amid hectic parleys by several political parties to put a united fight against the ruling BJP, are announced, themodel code of conductwill come into force.

Here are the latest updates:

5 PM

The Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and the two Election Commissioners Ashok Lavasa ansd Sushil Chandra have arrived at the Plenary Hall to announce the 17 Lok Sabha poll dates.

The CEC is now making his introductory remarks. Recalls the first election and how it survived the cynicism of the world democracies then. He now apprises about the series of the meeting the ECI held in States about poll-preparedness.

Nearly 900 million voters are eligible to vote in the polls. That is more than 84 million more than last polls. About 10 lakh polling station this time compared to 9 lakh in 2014 polls

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"Any violation of the Model Code of Conduct will be dealt with in the strictest manner," said CEC Sunil Arora. "Candidates with criminal history will be required to furnish such information," he said. "Usage of loudspeakers is prohibited at night between 10 pm and 6 am," he added.

Under General conduct, while political parties can criticise the other candidates based on policies and programmes and their work record, they are not allowed to use caste and communal sentiments to lure voters. They cannot bribe or intimidate voters and most importantly, they cannot criticise them based on unverified reports.

For meetings, it is mandatory for the political parties to inform the local police about their rallies and public meetings and provide them time to make adequate security arrangements.

Carrying or burning effigies of the opponents is not allowed. It needs to be ensured that in case two rival parties plan a road show in the same area, then their routes must not clash.

During the polling day, all those workers who are working for their parties in the polling booth must wear a badge with party name and symbol.

In the polling booths, apart from voters, only those individuals with a permit from the EC will be allowed to enter polling booths. The political party must not campaign for votes within a distance of 100 metres of the polling booth on the day of voting.

Are there any restriction in place for the ruling party?

The restrictions for the ruling party was put in place in 1979 and the restrictions were same for both state and Centre.

The restrictions are:

The ruling party must not advertise at the cost of the public exchequer or use official mass media for publicity on achievements.

No Member of Parliament or minister should combine their official visit with campaigning or party work.

Ministers and other authorities must not announce any financial grants, or promise any construction of roads, provision of drinking water, and so on.

Other parties must be allowed to use public spaces, and it must not be monopolised by those in power.

Have candidates violated the MCC in the past?

In 2013, the EC issued a notice to Union Minister Balram Naik for announcing a Rs 20 crore scheme for the construction of hostels specifically for OBC students in Madhya Pradesh, where polls had already begun.

Naik was asked to reply explaining why punitive action should not be taken against him for violating the EC model code of conduct.

That same year, the EC also brought up then-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa for a similar violation.

Even the former CM of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa had announced development schemes for areas where elections were being held. She was also asked to send a written response to the notice.

“The Commission has decided to afford you an opportunity to explain your stand [as to] why action should not be taken against you for the aforesaid violation of MCC,” said the EC.

In Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leads in the number of EC code violations with 97 FIRs registered. The BJP follows with 79 and Congress with 67 FIRs. In 2016, Mamata Banerjee earned the EC’s censure for announcing Asansol as a district, at a public rally, when the MCC was in force. An FIR was filed against Modi after Gujarat Assembly polls in 2017 where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeated his 2014 signature move and flashed his inked finger and waved to thousands gathered outside the polling booth. For the opposition this was a violation of MCC.

In the same election, the EC pulled up the then Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi over his interviews to television networks one day prior to the final phase of voting in Gujarat. The EC had then directed Gujarat’s Chief Election Officer BB Swain to file an FIR against channels in the state that telecast Gandhi’s interview.

Does MCC have a statutory backing? Can violations of it be punished by courts?

The MCC was introduced by the EC to ensure transparent and free, fair elections.

This means that if a party violates the MCC, they cannot be charged for violating a section of the code as it has no statutory backing. But in extreme conditions, the EC can file a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or the Income Tax Act.

For example, if a candidate is seen instigating communal hatred, a complaint can be filed under the IPC and CrPC. However, the EC has a practice of sending notices to politicians or political parties for violation of the MCC, but it does not translate into any action. The candidate or the party must reply in writing.

If they plead guilty, they attract a written censure from the EC which is nothing but a subtle warning.

In the past, the Congress has suggested making the EC code an enforceable legislation piece. However, it rejected the committee’s decision to implement a stay on manifesto release. When there questions on how binding the EC code of conduct was, the Supreme Court settled the matter by stating that the election body had the power to enforce the code.